Big Time No 9
by Discontinued Indefinitely
Summary: Number Nine. The guys get stranded in the Swiss Alps during their tour. Number Nine. They come across a mysterious hotel. Number Nine. And that's when things turn ugly...
1. It Begins: Number One

**A/N: Somebody stop me! I'm creating to many new stories…..Eh, the heart wants what the heart wants, I guess.**

**So get ready for some horror.**

**Hehehe…**

**Big Time No. 9**

**It Begins: Number One**

_"You've met a terrible fate, haven't you?"_

* * *

><p>Carlos stood in the middle of a windy field. The grass he stood on was brown and dry, and dead blades drifted around in the wind.<p>

Surrounding him was fog, and he couldn't see much past a few feet.

The wind was weak and quiet, producing not much but a small whistle that could hardly be heard.

Yet there was another sound. One Carlos couldn't quite put his finger on. At first he thought it sounded like a child crying. But soon he realized it was an ominous giggling, coming from somewhere unseen.

"Who's there?" Carlos asked, not out of fear but out of curiosity.

There was no response except for a low humming that began to grow in volume. Soon there was a loud, deep moan that shook the ground he was standing on.

"What is that noise?" Carlos asked no one in particular.

The noise continued to get louder, to the point where Carlos had to cover his ears and squeeze his eyes shut to ignore it, hoping that it would end soon.

And that it did. As soon as Carlos took his hands off his ears, it was gone.

Now he stood in eerie silence, not even the wind making noise.

Carlos began to grow nervous at the lack of noise, backing up slowly.

"Hello?" he asked. Or he might've not. He couldn't know for sure because he couldn't even hear his own voice.

Suddenly to his left Carlos heard a small, unidentifiable whisper.

"What?" he asked.

"IT'S BEGUN!" a loud, high pitched voice screeched, and Carlos covered his ears at the sudden, painful noise.

And then the world was nothing but black.

* * *

><p>Carlos's eyes slowly opened, squinting at the fierce beams of light protruding his view. As he slowly adjusted, he remembered where he was, and sat up with a stretch.<p>

"Hey, sleeping beauty. Glad you finally decided to wake up." James said sarcastically from somewhere behind him.

Carlos just yawned loudly and stretched, not bothering to respond to James.

"How far is it until we get there?" Carlos asked.

"Still about five hours." Kelly said from the passenger seat in front of him.

"Ughh…why did we have to drive to France anyways? And why in such a small car?" Carlos whined.

"Because, dog, it is cheaper. Now unless you want to pay for transportation, don't complain." Gustavo snapped back.

"Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed." Carlos mumbled.

"I wish I had slept in a bed, Carlos, but instead I've been up all night driving four whiney, yappy dogs across Europe."

Carlos simply rolled his eyes, then looked at the clock. It was apparently twenty minutes until noon, meaning he had slept almost fifteen hours.

"Where are we, anyways?" Carlos asked.

"I dunno, somewhere in the Alps. " Kelly responded, seemingly tired already of the small boy's many questions.

Carlos looked out the window and was greeted by a brilliant white sight. All around them was sparkling snow, dusted over the high, winding mountain paths. The beautiful snow reminded him of Minnesota, and soon he was feeling pretty home sick.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Logan asked from the seat next to him. Carlos smiled warmly and nodded in agreement.

A few minutes passed by, with Carlos looking at the clock every few seconds, before he started fidgeting impatiently.

He was pretty uncomfortable seeing as how they were in a small SUV, packed with them and all of their luggage. At least it had pilot seats.

"Carlos, stop fidgeting!" James whined from the back seat, and Carlos just stuck his tongue out at the younger boy.

After a while, Carlos's eyes started to drag, staring at the plain white landscape. Even though he had just slept for a long time, the small boy soon found himself drifting off once again, however, this time, he couldn't remember his dream.

* * *

><p>The next time Carlos awoke it was even brighter out, and he checked the clock again.<p>

_Great, I only slept for thirty minutes _he thought to himself.

He heard munching and looked over to see everyone else was chewing on sandwiches, each wrapped up in their own various activities.

Carlos grabbed himself a sandwich, then put his earbuds in and started listening to music. He smiled as some Beatles came on and he thought back to the concert in London and the whole ordeal about world domination. He could hardly believed that that had actually happened, it was almost like his life was an epic spy movie.

Suddenly a song Carlos didn't know came on, and he frowned. He looked at the screen of his Ipod, and it read, "Revolution Number Nine." He tried to remember when he downloaded this song, but couldn't remember. He thought it was alittle bit strange, but he decided to listen.

It couldn't hurt, right?

The song started out repeating the words, "Number nine," over and over again. Then suddenly unnerving music started to play that reminded Carlos of death and made him want to kill someone.

And the strange thing was, he couldn't stop listening to it.

Eight minutes later, he had listened to the entire thing, and wiped the tears off his cheeks, hoping no one would notice; that was the creepiest song he had ever heard.

He wouldn't have to worry about anyone noticing, however, because the car started to slow down. Carlos looked out the window in excitement, hoping they had reached their destination, but was confused when he saw they were still in the Swiss Alps.

He pulled his earbuds out and asked, "Why are we stopping Gustavo?"

All he said, though, was, "I don't know…"

Soon they were completely halted in the middle of a mountain road, and they all got out to investigate the problem.

"Maybe we have a flat tire?" Logan suggested.

"No, I would've felt that…" Gustavo said.

"Hey guys, listen." Kendall said, and everyone fell quiet.

Sure enough they all soon heard a faint whining sound.

"What is that?" James asked curiously.

Carlos stuck his ear to the car and could've sworn he heard…..no, it couldn't be.

His thoughts were interrupted when Gustavo suddenly said forcefully, "Everyone back away from the car quickly!"

They all started slowly backing away from the car, eventually breaking into a sprint. After they had run agood distance away, they all started to question Gustavo on why he had told them to run, but soon enough they saw for themselves.

In contrast to the blank, white mountaintops, and roaring red flame exploded out of the car, roaring deafeningly. Black smoke floated out from the flames and rose to the sky in thick billows. An intense heat wave reached them all, causing them to sweat.

They all watched in shock as their car exploded.

* * *

><p>An hour or so later, they were walking along the trails of the mountain, starting to worry about their safety. All of their luggage had been in the car, and they were not dressed for the intense cold presented to them. And to make matters worse, the sun was starting to set, brushing the sky with a calm pink and serene orange color, although that was far from how they were feeling.<p>

They walked in silence, for they did not know what to say. This couldn't possibly be the end. They would find shelter somewhere, right?

* * *

><p>An hour later, it was nearly pitch black outside, and the sky was littered with the slight twinkle of the evening stars.<p>

Most of the wandering group couldn't feel anything in their bodies anymore, and the only sound to be heard was the harsh pant of frigidness, and the small clatter of chattering teeth.

They were still walking the winding mountain roads, praying for something to ease their pain.

Kendall spoke for the first time in hours, his voice but a mere whisper due to the freezing climate.

"What?" James mumbled in response, as no one knew what the blond boy had said.

"I said, what is that?" Kendall said, pointing in the distance, and then he coughed from pushing his voice too much.

Everyone looked to where Kendall was pointing his finger, and saw a soft glow in the middle of the wall of the mountain in the distance.

Everyone started walking faster to get to the mysterious location, and soon the light started to grow brighter and brighter.

Eventually they reached the indent in the mountain where the light was coming from, and they all turned the corner gasping….

In relief. For, around the corner sat a fairly large four story building, with light coming from the windows and a large, bright sign at the top.

"Hôtel des âmes perdues éclatant" the sign read in big, fancy letters.

"Hmm, that's strange, a hotel in the middle of the mountain?" Kelly noted, but no one cared. They all rushed inside faster than humanely possible, desperate to get inside.

* * *

><p>Inside the lobby was warm and everyone heaved a sigh of relief as the feeling started to creep through their limbs once again.<p>

The laobby was large and round, with bright, white walls and a blood red carpet. OVer the entire room hung a giant chandelier with thousands of sparkly crystals.

Directly across from the entrance was a grand staircase, leading up to a pair of doors with the words "Le premier étage" painted above them. Then to the left and right of that platform were more staircases, leading up to another platform with another door directly above the first one, leading to the third floor, and so on.

To their left sat a warm, crackling fireplace and a few old fashioned chairs.

And to their right was the front desk, which at the moment, was vacant.

Gustavo went to wait at the front desk to talk to the manager, while everyone else wne tand sat down in the waiting area. It was extremely cozy with the warmth of the fireplace and the beckoning of the soft, comfortable chairs. Above the fireplace was an old painting of some lady, although Carlos didn't know who it was.

The comfort of the area beckoned Carlos to slowly close his eyes once again, and he started to drift off once again.

The last sounds he heard were the quiet words spoken between Gustavo and the hotel's staff, and the ever-repeating "Number nine" still stuck in his head from earlier.

Number nine.

Number nine.

Number Nine.

And then Carlos was asleep.

Number Nine.

Number

Niiiiiineeee…

**A/N: Ok so if you haven't actually heard the Beatles song Revolution Number Nine, go listen to it, because it is what this story is based off of and it is so creepy. I couldn't listen to more than three minutes of the longer than eight minute song…it probably didn't help that it was at night and I was alone though haha.**

**I hope you are excited for this story, because I sure am! **

**Oh, if anyone can tell me where the quote at the beginning of this chapter is from, you'll get something extra special! If I can come up with something, haha.**

**Please review! I'll try to update soon!**

**Bye!**

**BTL14 8D**


	2. Number Two

**A/N: SO two horror movies inspired me to write this chapter: The Strangers and Cabin In The Woods. Both amazing. See them. NOW!**

**Haha, anyways, sorry for the delay, but time is flying. **

**Enjoy!**

**Number Two**

Carlos's eyes slowly creaked open and a soft, warm light slowly filled his vision. As things came into focus, he started to see that he was in a bed, in a room with sunset orange colored walls. He groaned and slowly stirred, not wanting to get up.

The queen sized bed he was in was warm and cozy and for some reason he was a little tired. Slowly he sat up, stretching and yawning in the process.

He looked over to his side and saw another queen bed mirroring his, and in it sat James. The pretty boy was sprawled out and his hair was extremely messy, which made Carlos smile.

The small boy slowly stood up, once again stretching. He noticed he was in only his briefs, and the cold air stung against his warm body. Before long, he was shivering. He looked around for some clothes to put on, but found none.

And then he thought of something: Where was he and how did he get there? He looked around and it appeared he was in a hotel room. But why?

Carlos approached James and placed his arm on his warm, tan shoulder, then gave him a small shake. "James..." he said. "James, wake up."

James mumbled something in response and shuffled a little under his sheets.

"James!" Carlos said a little more forcefully.

"What?" he moaned.

"Get up. I need to ask you something."

"No."

"James, come on!"

"What!" he said as he sat up. His hair was disheveled and his eyes still had sleep in them. The light immediately glinted off of his bare tan chest.

"James, where are we?" Carlos asked in a hushed tone. James didn't respond though, as he started giggling spontaneously.

"What!" Carlos exclaimed.

"Nice undies." James replied, then he started laughing even harder. Carlos rolled his eyes and picked up a pillow, smacking it on James's head. James gave Carlos an irritated glare, saying, "Not cool, bro."

"James, I'm serious! Where are we?"

James gave him a concerned look, then said, "You really don't remember?"

The smaller boy shook his head. "No, I don't."

"We're in the Swiss Alps, remember? We were stranded here...?" Memories flooded back to Carlos of the car exploding, and them wandering into the mysterious hotel.

"Oh yeah." Carlos said, looking down and thinking about the events that brought them there. It all seemed like a dream...

When he looked up, he was in the lobby. Fully clothed. Weird. He looked at his hand, then grabbed at his shirt and glanced at it confused. 'What just happened...' he thought to himself.

"Carlos, are you okay, buddy? You look a little sick." a voice said.

He looked up and saw the owner of the voice was Kendall. He was standing on the other side of the impoverish, yet homely lobby.

"Yeah, I'm...I'm fine." Carlos mumbled. He could feel Kendall worriedly glancing at him, but he shrugged it off.

He looked over to the cozy waiting area where he had fallen asleep the previous day, and where Gustavo was currently sitting. He had many questions, like who stripped him and put him to bed, but instead, he asked, "So, Gustavo, when are we gonna be able to get out of here?"

Gustavo gave a small grunt, then when Carlos didn't laugh, he realized he was serious. "Have you even looked outside? The blizzard is worse than ever."

"Blizzard? There's a blizzard, too? Talk about bad luck." Carlos said.

Gustavo furrowed his eyebrows at the teen, then said, "Yes, there's a blizzard. That's the reason we're stuck here."

"Itd'z bean coomeeng doon fur heurs." the manager sitting at the front desk said. She was a middle aged woman with graying hair and a thick accent. Carlos didn't remember her from the day before. What kind of accent was that anyways?

Suddenly Carlos realized what Gustavo just said. "You mean you got a new car?" he asked.

"What do you mean? Why would we get a new car?"

"Because our old one exploded..." Carlos said quietly yet as if it should be obvious. It came out as more of a question, though.

"What...?" both Kendall and Gustavo asked. Kendall looked at him concernedly once again.

"So the blizzard's lasted for hours?" Carlos asked, trying to change the subject. His mind was reeling.

"Yez, I vould zay aroond nine." the manager said.

"What did you just say?" Carlos asked.

"I zedd it'z bean znowing vor nine heurs."

Nine hours. Nine. Nine. Nine...

"STOP STARING AT ME LIKE THAT!" Carlos yelled at Kendall, and the blond teen looked away as if he hadn't been staring at Carlos like that.

The room fell to an awkward silence and Carlos looked down at his feet, blushing. "I'm sorry, Kendall, I guess I am feeling a little sick." he said. He squeezed his eyes closed and rubbed a hand over them, trying to make some sense of what was happening.

When he opened them again, he was sitting back in his room, sitting on his bed, facing the wall. From the other room, he could hear a faint noise, which he guessed was the water from a shower. He fell back onto his bed, his mind foggy. What was happening to him?

Carlos groaned and flipped over so he was on his stomach. This day was so confusing; it didn't even feel real.

He decided he needed to talk to someone about it, so Carlos got up and opened the door to the bedroom. He traveled down the hallway, until he reached the main room of their hotel room, which consisted of a couch and flat-screen TV off to the left, and a kitchen behind that. In front of Carlos was a door that he assumed led to the bathroom, and in front of the middle of the room was a small entryway and a closet.

He could hear the shower more clearly now, and approached the door. He slowly hit his knuckles against the door, the sound echoing throughout the otherwise silent room.

"What?" James's voice rang out from inside the bathroom.

"James, can I talk to you?" he asked.

"Now's not exactly the best time, Carlos...you know, because I'm in the shower. Naked."

"James, it's important."

There was a short pause before James sighed and responded, "The door's unlocked, just try not to...look in my direction."

Carlos opened the door and walked into the bathroom awkwardly, which, like much of the rest of the hotel, was fancy yet cozy. Directly opposite the door was the shower, which had an almost clear glass door to it.

Carlos quickly averted his eyes and jumped up on the counter, which was right by the door. There was an awkward silence for a minute until James finally spoke up, saying, "What is it that was so important?"

"Oh..oh yeah. Something weird has been happening to me, Jamie. I-It's kinda hard to explain, but I guess I'll try-"

He was interrupted by James, who said, "Is this about the car exploding yesterday?"

"Yes! And no one believes me Jamie! Do you believe me, James?" Carlos said.

"Well, Carlos, you-" James started.

He was cut off mid-sentencce, though, as there was a loud groan and the electricity and water shut off.

"Fu-" James started to say but he remembered his more naive brother was in the room he said, "Crap." instead.

"Weird, I've never seen the water shut off in a power outage before..." Carlos mumbled.

"Neither have I." James agreed. "Close your eyes while I get a towel on, ok?" James said to Carlos.

"Sure." Carlos said as he squeezed his eyes shut.

Realizing what he had just done, Carlos knew what was coming next, and opened his eyes, expecting to be somewhere else.

He thought wrong, though, and when he opened his eyes James was standing naked, barely illuminated by the small amount of light coming in through a nearby window.

Both boys furiously blushed, and James yelled, "Carlos!" while quickly grabbing a towel and covering up.

"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry!" Carlos quickly apologized as he closed his eyes again.

When he opened them, he was once again in the lobby. This time he was sitting on one of the two comfortable chairs, with Logan squeezed in beside him.

On the second chair was Kendall and James, and somewhere behind all of them Carlos could hear Gustavo's hushed whispers with the hotel's manager, most likely about the blackout.

"What time is it?" Carlos asked Logan.

"Well, let's see...it's about...five." Logan said.

"At night?" Carlos asked.

"No, in the morning." Logan said sarcastically.

Before Carlos could respond, Gustavo came over to where the boys were sitting and said, "Well, it looks like the power out could last for days because of the storm."

"What? But I can't not be beautiful for days! And why is the water not working anyways?" James asked, standing up. Carlos rolled his eyes as he saw James was still in a towel, his hair still wet with shampoo.

"Well, it's pretty complicated, but apparently the piping to this place is pretty old fashioned, and the valve to let the water flow was somehow closed."

"Well this is just great, isn't it! Now I have to wait for days to even be clean and to look-" James started to ramble.

"BUT," Gustavo interrupted, "She did say that if someone wanted to, they could go into the basement and try to fix it themselves." he said referring to the manager.

Immediately Kendall volunteered, seeing as how he considered himself the leader. Carlos volunteered to go with Kendall so he wasn't alone, but everyone objected because he was 'sick.'

Seeing as how James was practically naked, and no one wanted Kendall to go alone, it was decided that Logan would go with him, even though he harbored a secret fear of dark basements.

Twenty minutes later, Kendall and Logan were equipped with flashlights and walkie-talkies (because of course cell phones wouldn't work with the blizzard and everything) and were headed to the basement.

The entrance to the basement was in a hall behind the front desk, sealed by a large metal door.

"Why is the door so...large...and metal?" Carlos asked. Everyone was standing around Logan and Kendall, who were standing in front of the looming door.

"Parce qu'il détient les méchants." the manager lady said.

"What?" Carlos asked.

"Nah reezun." she said.

Carlos gulped.

Slowly she moved her way in front of all of them, grabbed the thick handle to the door, and slowly pushed it upwards. The loud creaks and groans of the cogs in the lock turning and unlocking.

Finally the handle clicked when it was upright, and a loud whoosh was heard as the small lady dragged the door open. A frigid air escaped from the vault, and suddenly all Carlos could feel was the need to run as far away as possible.

Everyone stood still, looking at the dark, looming stairway in front of them.

After a few moments, Kendall finally spoke up, saying, "Well, we better get going, huh?"

Logan gulped loudly, then replied in a hushed whisper, "Yep."

And so they set off, into the unknown. Into the darkness...

Around an hour later, everyone, sans Kendall and Logan, sat in the lobby of the hotel anxiously.

Five minutes after the two had gone into the basement, they informed everyone via their walkie-talkies that they had reached the bottom of the stairs, and the manager told them where both the water valve and the power generator were. But in the 55-ish minutes since then, they hadn't heard a word from them.

So now Gustavo anxiously paced around while Kelly tried to comfort them all and Carlos and James sat down by the fireplace.

Carlos sat with his elbows on his knees and his head resting on his hands, watching the fire. The hotel was quite cold, so he appreciated the warmth. But slowly the flame started to die out, until one last ember flew into the air and then flickered out.

And then the room was cold, dark and silent.

Finally, Carlos couldn't take it anymore. He stood up and loudly (or at least it seemed loud compared to the silence they were waiting in) announced, "I'm gonna go look for them. No one protested, as fear for the two lost boys made everyone forget about his supposed 'illness.'

Silently the manger got out another flashlight and walkie-talkie, and Carlos took them. Everyone looked away as Carlos made his way to the opened basement door. Then with one final breath, Carlos ventured down the dark hallway.

He clicked on his flashlight and shined it around a bit to look down the long stone staircase. He slowly made his way down step by step, one hand on the wall to keep his balance.

Around five minutes later, the walkie-talkie in the lobby crackled to life, and everyone crowded around it as a voice spoke.

"'Kay, guys, I'm at the bottom." it said.

Everyone sighed as they recognized the voice. The manager grabbed the walkie-talkie off the table and said, "Do vu nehd deerecchuns?"

After a moment, Carlos's voice was heard again, this time saying, "No, I remember from when you told Kendall and Logan."

"Ok, Good luck." Kellie said.

"Thanks." Carlos squeaked.

Down in the basement, Carlos shone his flashlight out to get a good luck at the place. It was all plain stone, but something about it was just creepy. As Carlos stepped out from in front of the staircase, he saw there were three paths: One going straight ahead, which led to the power generator, one to the left, which led to the water valve, and another to the right. Carlos didn't know where that one led.

He decided to start out by traveling to the left path, occasionally calling out Kendall and Logan's names.

Eventually he reached a large pipe with a wheel-type thing sticking out of it, which Carlos assumed was the water valve. So they weren't here...

Carlos grabbed the handle because he thought as long as he was there he should try to get the water flowing again. Though no matter how hard he pushed, it wouldn't turn.

"I'm at the water valve, but it won't turn. I think it's frozen." Carlos said to the walkie-talkie.

He could hear James groan and then he heard Gustavo's voice asking, "And the dogs?"

"Haven't found them yet." Carlos was about to leave to check out the power generator area, when something caught his eye.

He shone the flashlight on the valve, and gently rubbed his finger over it. Because on the wheel for the valve, there were scratch marks. Nine scratch marks.

"What the-" Carlos started to say, but he was interrupted by a piercing scream that echoed through the basement.

He quickly ran towards the direction of the screams, ending up back in the central room of the basement. The screams were coming from the hall to the right of the staircase, the one now opposite him. The one that he didn't know where it led.

The screams began to get louder and louder, and Carlos, although afraid, dashed across the hallway.

When he reached the end of the hallway, three things happened at the same time:

First, the screaming stopped.

Then, Carlos took in the room in front of him. It was large and rectangular, though in the middle, flat ground turned into a large staircase.

And finally, Carlos began to slide across the strangely slippery ground, waving his arms frantically, unable to gain friction.

He quickly reached the staircase and began to tumble down it, gaining speed. Sickening cracks echoed throughout the room but the pain Carlos was feeling distracted him from the noises.

Finally with a boom he smacked against the bottom of the stairs.

Strangely, though, he didn't feel hurt at all.

He stood, dusting off his pants, and looked around with his somehow-still-intact flashlight. In front of him, the path continued on.

And curiosity got the best of Carlos, causing him to walk forward slowly. Soon he reached a dead end; in front of him was a large, gaping, uncrossable chasm.

Carlos reached for his walkie-talkie, but found it was no longer hooked to his waistband. He gave the chasm one last look with his flashlight, then turned around and started to head back.

But as he reached the stairs he saw a shadowy humanoid figure standing and staring at him. "Kendall? Logan?" he asked as he hesitantly approached it.

His flashlight flickered out after a few steps, and after banging it a few times, he knew it was useless, and so he dropped it on the floor.

He continued to approach the still figure, until finally, when he was just a few feet from it, he reached his hand out. He reached closer and closer slowly until his fingers were just inches away from the shadows.

His mind flashed back to the horrible whining the car made before it exploded. The whining that let him know he was in danger. Funny, he thought, how lucky it is that danger like that gave a warning first, much like a dog growling.

Carlos remembered growing drowsy in the chair in the lobby, slowly drifting away. Giving in to the sleep because he didn't know the consequences.

Then he woke up and was confused and that should have been a red flag that he woke up in just his underwear, not knowing how he had gotten there. He should've wondered what was happening, but other emotions, like confusion, had blinded him.

And Logan and Kendall, disappearing without any evidence left behind of them, just vanishing directly off of the earth.

And the blizzard happening, even though Carlos remembered the car exploding, the blizzard having cut off the group's only form of communication with the outside world.

And Kelly, trying to comfort everyone from the very beginning, even before anything had gone wrong, as if she knew something was happening. Had she? Had she known? And why didn't she tell anyone? No one noticed her anxiety, because they all must have felt the evil present.

And the manager of the hotel, no one could really understand her. But she clearly had knowledge of what was going to happen, and she didn't tell anyone, maybe even because she wanted them to get hurt.

And so, as Carlos was millimeters away from the shadowy figure; after ignoring the warning sound of the piercing screams; giving in to the need to save his friends because he didn't know the answers; getting up at the bottom of the stairs without feeling the pain anymore, yet ignoring that red flag because of a feeling, curiosity; hearing the screaming disappearing without a trace, as if it hadn't ever happened; dicovering the vanishing of his walkie-talkie happening when he remembered having it on, cutting off his only communication with everyone else; reaching for his walkie-talkie even though nothing was happening, to find it not there, as if he sensed the looming evil; seeing the shadowy figure, clearly being more than just a shadow but not moving because it must have wanted to hurt Carlos; after all of this Carlos still reached towards it, even though he knew it meant certain death.

He was possessed to do it, and finally, Carlos's hand touched the being.

And Carlos would have died...

But at that moment, the energy came back on, filling the basement with golden light. The shadow vanished with the light, leaving a gaping Carlos, arm extended.

"Alright, let's get out of here, this place creeps me out." a voice said from the main chamber.

"Aw, is little Logie scared?"

"Shut up! I am not...hey, what's this?"

"It looks like a walkie-talkie.."

"Hm that's weird.."

Carlos came to his senses and broke out of his trance, calling out, "Kendall? Logan?"

"What was that?" Logan asked.

"It...sounded...like Carlos."

"Carlos? Was that you, bud?" Logan called.

"Yeah, it's me!" Carlos responded as he ran up the stairs, which were surprisingly blood-free.

"Carlos!" Kendall exclaimed as he reached the main room of the basement. "What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here? I came here looking for you two! Why didn't you respond? We were waiting for like, an hour!" Carlos said exasperatedly.

"Carlos, bud, we were only gone for nine minutes." Kendall said.

"What did you just say?"

"I said we were only gone for nine minutes.

"Nine minutes.

"Nine minutes.

"Nine."

Carlos closed his eyes because it was all too much and this wasn't happening.

And when he opened them again, he was laying in bed in his dark hotel room.

And above his bed, Carlos could've sworn he saw the shadow watching him sleep.

Nine minutes.

Nine.

Day Two.

Seven days left.

Number nine.

**A/N: Mysterious, eh? Very, very mysterious…**

**I'm so happy because I've always wanted to try circular prose, and now I finally got to XD. If you don't know what that is..um..research it.**

**Wow. So this is by far the longest chapter I have ever written. It is also one of the best in my opinion.**

**What about you? What do you think? Please leave a review because I love reviews and they make me very happy. And they encourage me to write. Yup.**

**Oh and by the way GUP21 guessed correctly that the quote was from Majora's Mask. Don't know your prize yet. Hm….**

**Later!**

**BTL14 8D**


	3. Number Three

**A/N: So so so so so so sorry for the long delay, but you know, writer's block. Thanks to my one review from the last chapter. You rock my socks!**

**Interesting chapter ahead...beware!**

**Enjoy!**

**Number Three**

"That didn't happen, Carlos. Trust me."

"But James, it did happen! I swear!" Carlos protested.

"Please, Carlos, just stop! It's impossible!" James said. Right now everyone was sitting in the lobby of the hotel, bored. They were arguing because no one believed Carlos when he told them about the previous day. They didn't believe the valve, the girl, or the time-skipping. It was ridiculously frustrating to Carlos.

"Is not!" Carlos said. "Is it impossible, Logie?" he whispered to Logan, whom he was sitting next to.

"Yes." Logan announced, annoyed.

"Ha! You lose!" James exclaimed.

"Logie!" Carlos cried out.

"Sorry, 'litos, but we've asked the manager, and there is no basement in this hotel. Plus, we aren't here because of a blizzard, we're here because the car exploded."

Carlos let that sink in. That's what he had said the previous day, too, but they had told him otherwise. It just didn't make sense.

Then, as if that weren't bad enough, apparently the basement didn't exist anymore. That was just great. Nothing made Carlos happier than disappearing basements.

"So you think I just made it up?" Carlos huffed.

"No, of course not. It was probably all in your head. Or just a dream." Kendall said.

Carlos crossed his arms and pouted. Why wouldn't they believe him? Isn't that the job of a brother, of a friend? You'd think that after so many years of knowing each other they would trust Carlos. Apparently not, though.

They sat in silence for a while, Logan occasionally trying to make small talk. Carlos sat in awkard silence, looking at the wall. He was embarrassed about his story and sad that no one believed him. The lighting and warmth of the lobby slowly wore away his troubles though.

His eyes started to get heavier and heavier. Finally, they drooped close and he slipped away to sleep.

* * *

><p>Carlos dreamt that he was in a dark room. It was so dark, in fact, that he couldn't see a thing.<p>

"Hello? Is anyone there?" he asked.

There was no reply.

He outstretched his arms and wandered around in search of a wall, but was unsuccessful. Instead, he stumbled over something on the ground and barely stopped himself from falling. He crouched down and felt around on the floor for the object that had tripped him, soon finding it under his grasp.

Once he had it he stood up and felt the object; it was square and rough.

After a minute more of feeling it he realized it was a box of matches. He pulled out the compartment with the matches andblindly pulled one from the box. Then, without hesitation, he struck it against all sides of the box until he found the right one and the match exploded with orange flames.

With the lit match in hand, he observed the room around him. The floors, walls, and ceiling were all cement. It was mostly empty, save for one object in the center of the room.

Carlos slowly approached the object in awe. It looked like some kind of...tomb or coffin or something. It was large, about six feet long by two feet wide by one foot tall, and it was made out of what looked like gold. All over it's surface were decorative little jewels taht glistened in the darkness.

It was beautiful.

And yet Carlos knew from the minute he saw it that it was sinister.

As he could closer to it his emotions turned negative. He felt sad and lonely and angry and desperate and jealous all at once. He felt like punching someone in the face and then crying his eyes out. It was horrible.

Finally Carlos reached the tomb and put his hand on it; it was freezing. So cold, in fact, that he immediately pulled his hand off because the cold burned.

All at once the emotions Carlos had disappeared. In there pplace rose a single othe emotion: fear.

Carlos turned and started to run from the evil thing before him. The only problem was, it was like he was trying to run in a swimming pool, like he was in slow motion. He only got a few feet before a horrible screeching sounded tha tsent a chill up Carlos's spine and made him cringe.

Too fearful too look back, he continued to "run" as fast as he could. He wasn't getting anywhere, though.

Giving up on the whole running idea, Carlos turned round to face his enemy.

To his surprise, though, no one was there. The only difference was that the lid to the tomb was now on the ground, split in two.

He once again approached it, his fear now replaced with over bounding curiosity. He had to see what was in the tomb.

Once he reached it, though, it too wasempty.

"GO TO HELL!"

He was pushed onto the tomb and it started falling down endlessly. Carlos's stomach flopped and the last thing he heard was, "I'm awakening..." with a dark, ominous laugh.

* * *

><p>Carlos awoke with a start, gasping from the falling.<p>

That dream had been so real and vivid...

Carlos noticed that he was now alone in the lobby. He wondered where the others went, but when he remembered he was still mad at them, he shrugged the thought off.

Slowly Carlos stood up from the couch he was sitting on and he wiped the drool from his cheeks.

Once he was up he started to walk towards the stairs, but his vision starting going black from standing up to fast, so he had to lean on the front desk for support.

His vision started clearing up and he started to leave. But then, he noticed some papers on the front desk...

All they had on them was the number nine in bold over and over and over again, but Carlos was fascinated by them to stop.

As he looked through the papers he heard footsteps and someone say, "Hey, Carlos. Good to see you're up." Subconsciously he recognized it as Logan's voice, but he continued to read anyways. He heard Logan sit down on the couch, but ignored it.

Slowly he flipped through the papers on the desk one by one. There must have been hundreds of sheets of paper, but all they had on them was the number nine. Over and over and over and over and over.

"What're you up to?" Logan asked from the couch.

"Just reading these papers...they're so weird..." Carlos responded.

He picked up the papers for proof and walked over to the couch, intending to show them to Logan.

"What do you mean?" Logan asked. He was laying down so Carlos couldn't see him.

"Here, just look at-" Carlos started.

But when he got to the couch, he froze.

"What?" Logan asked.

Then Carlos screamed.

Because on the couch wasn't Logan. On the couch was a hideous old man with Logan's voice.

* * *

><p>Carlos awoke screaming. That nightmare was worse than the first one. And both seemed so real.<p>

This time Carlos knew he was awake though. He was on the couch with everyone else just like he head been when he fell asleep.

"Carlos? What's wrong?" Kendall asked wildly. They all looked joustled by Carlos's screaming.

"N-Nothing, I just had a nightmare, is all." Carlos stuttered.

"Must've been some nightmare; you're sweating so much I'm soaked!" James said from besides Carlos on the couch.

"Yeah, I should probably go-" Carlos started to say. He was interrupted, however, by a large rumbling that filled the entire lobby. It lasted for about five seconds, then went away.

"What was that?" James asked fearfully.

"It-It felt like it was coming from upstairs!" Logan said.

"That's what I was thinking, too..." Kendall agreed.

They sat in shcok for a minute before Carlos spoke up, "Well shouldn't we go check it out?"

"Yeas." Kendall answered. "But not you, Carlos. You're too shaken up from you nightmare.

Carlos didn't protest.

Soon Kendall, James, and Logan were up and heading towards the first floor, leaving Carlos and the hotel manager alone in the lobby.

Carlos sat staring at the table in front of him for a while, absentmindedly listening to the shuffling of the manager working. He took a quick glance and saw that the hotel manager had once again changed; it was now a young-ish man. He was tall and fit with chestnut brown hair and strikingly blue eyes. Something about the man entranced Carlos.

"Pretty crazy stuff, huh?" the manager suddenly asked. His voice was smooth and calming.

"Yup..." Carlos said awkardly.

"Do you wanna make out?" he asked.

"Excuse me?" Carlos aksed, bewildered. He wasn't sure if he heard that right. What scared him though is for some reason he was tempted to say yes.

"I said can you take this out?" the man repeated. Carlos looked and saw he was referring to a trash bag in his hands.

"Oh, sure, I guess..." Carlos said.

He got up and approached the front desk, where he took the trash bag from his hands. As he took it from him, the manager leaned over and whispered in Carlos's hear, "You set me on fire."

Carlos blushed, asking, "What?"

"I said you look pretty tired." the manager said. "You're acting like it too. Anyways, the door to the back, where the dumpster is, is right over there." he said, pointing to a door.

"Ok." Carlos muttered. He was pretty flustered.

"Oh, and Carlos?" he said. Carlos didn't wonder how he knew his name, instead, he just turned around and looked at the man.

"Yes?" he asked.

"There is a basement." he said.

Carlos gulped nad stared for a minute. The manager went back to his work as if he hadn't just said that, oblivious to Carlos's bewildered staring.

Eventually he turned around and headed outside to the dumpster.

It was dark outside, and freezing. Even though it apparently wasn't a blizzard that stranded them there, it was still extremely cold out. Carlos's skin stung just from a few minutes of exposure.

He walked towards the big green dumpster and tossed the trash in, but then he froze. He got the unusual feeling that someone was watching him...

Quickly, he turned around, bu caught no one. It must've just been hhis imagination.

On the way back in, Carlos yawned and thought back on the day. It was definitely weird, and Carlos could tell something was going on. SOmething terrible...

The thing that struck Carlos the most though was the manager. He was just so charming...

And Carlos was not gay. Yet every time he saw that man, he just wanted to tear his clothes off and attack him. He was just...drawn to him.

Then what he had said to him...there was a basement. Carlos was right.

As he entered the lobby once more, Carlos made his mind up. He was going to get into that basement, no matter what it took. He would get to the bottom of this, even if no one believed him. Because he had to.

A grandfather clock in the lobby let out twelve gongs. It was midnight.

Day three.

Three days gone.

Six days left.

Six days.

Number nine.

Number nine.

Number...

Nine.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Ok, so this chapter is...interesting in my opinion. Kinda rushed but this is my only writing time. And I had writer's block when I wrote it. So please forgive any crappiness!**

**Please review! I wanna know what you think! What's going on here? Hm...**

**Oh and in case you were wondering, which you weren't, the second nightmare in this chapter is based off of an actual nightmare I've had. I was like rummaging through the fridge and my brother was talking to me then I went over to the couch and it wasn't him. And I screamed. HAha.**

**Thanks for reading! See you next time...**

**AK**


	4. Number Four

**A/N: As always, sorry for the long wait. What'cha gonna do, though.**

**Hehe, thanks to anyone for reviewing! Hope you'll keep it up even though I'm a terrible updater.**

**Enjoy!:**

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><p><strong>Number Four<strong>

As Carlos got back into the lobby he made up his mind: He was going to get to the bottom of this. He would go into that basement, whether anyone else believed him or not. Because he had to.

Twelve gongs went off. It was midnight.

Carlos walked up to the front desk only to find the manager wasn't there. On one hand, it was a relief because he wouldn't have to feel that admiration again; on the other hand, however, it meant he would have to wait to go into the basement.

Assuming the manager had gone to bed or something in the time that Carlos had been taking the trash out, he decided to go upstairs and go to bed himself.

After a few flights of stairs, he opened the door to his floor and entered the hallway. Before he went to bed, he would talk with the other three boys. Even if they didn't believe him, he couldn't keep it from them. Everything was just too odd to keep from himself.

The only problem was as he walked down the hall, no one was there. All of the lights were off and he couldn't find his bandmates anywhere. They must've not found anything to be the source of the crashing noise they had heard.

With a sigh of defeat, Carlos headed to his room.

When he reached the bedroom, Carlos saw James in bed, asleep. They must've not found anything after all.

Carlos slipped into his warm bed and slowly drifted to sleep.

* * *

><p>In his dream, Carlos was walking down a sidewalk. It was night. It was cold.<p>

Fog hung over the streets and made it so Carlos could hardly see five feet in front of him. Somewhere in the distance Carlos could see the soft, illuminated glow of a streetlamp.

Where he was walking, he didn't know. Why, neither. He was just walking.

Suddenly Carlos became very out of breath. He had to stop and take a break he was so winded.

He stepped over to the side of the sidewalk and wiped the perspiration off of his forehead.

The weird thing was, when he stopped walking, his footsteps went on.

Or at least he still heard them.

It took Carlos a moment to realize they were in fact someone else's footsteps. Continously clicking, getting closer.

Carlos looked behind him to find no one.

The footsteps continued.

He looked back in front of him, still to no avail.

It seemed like no matter which way Carlos turned his head, the footsteps still came from behind him.

Soon, Carlos was spinning around, trying to find the source of the noise, his breathing becoming heavier and his heart racing faster.

Then, he saw the most peculiar thing. A black thread, right in front of his face. It was just there, it had no source. Carlos realized it was a strand of black hair. Forgetting the footsteps, which were still coming closer, Carlos tried to understand where this hair was coming from.

Finally the footsteps stopped.

Carlos followed the strand of hair upward, until he was looking up to the sky. Hanging in the air right above him, though, was the girl.

She screamed, looking down on CArlos.

Carlos ran but he couldn't escape her. At some point he tripped and fell to the ground. He attempted to cover his eyes, hoping all of this would go away.

Everything went silent, and Carlos was convinced she was gone. He removed his hands from his face, only to find her deformed face right there.

"GET OUT!" she yelled.

* * *

><p>Carlos awoke with a start. The room was filled with the orange glow of the light above him.<p>

Over to his side Carlos could hear rustling. He rubbed his eyes and looked over.

The source of the sound revealed itself to be James, searching through his stuff for a shirt.

"James?" Carlos asked groggily.

"Oh, look who's finally up!" James commented teasingly. Finally, he found a shirt and pulled it on.

"What time is it?" Carlos asked. He sat up and stretched.

"Around two in the afternoon." James answered.

"Jeez, you could've woken me!" Carlos said irritably.

"Nah, you were too cute! Your cheeks were red and you were drooling and your face was all scrunched up against your pillow!" James teased.

"Shut up." Carlos laughed. "So any news on when we can get out of here?"

"Nope." James said. "It's still blizzarding pretty hard outside."

"What?" Carlos asked, confused.

"I said the blizzard is still pretty bad outside."

"B-But...I thought..."

"What's wrong?"

Carlos couldn't understand it. When he thought they were there because the car broke, they were there because of a blizzard. And then when he accepted they were there for a blizzard, they said the car broke down. It's like he was going crazy; he just couldn't undersstand it.

He decided not to tell James, though. He wouldn't believe him.

"N-Nothing." Carlos lied.

James glanced at him wearily. Carlos put on his best, "I'm fine!" face until James looked away.

"So, did you guys find anything last night?"

"What do you mean?" James asked.

"When you investigated the sound."

"What sound?"

"The loud crash we heard when we were in the lobby...?"

"Are you sure you're okay?" James asked.

"I'm not crazy!" Carlos said, a little too loudly.

"What was that buddy?" Kendall asked. Suddenly Carlos was in the lobby again with everyone else.

"What happened?" Carlos asked. He was now dressed.

"You don't look so good, Carlos." Logan commented.

No. It couldn't be happening again. Not again. Carlos would go crazy.

"You've been acting strange ever since we found you in the basement." Kendall said.

Basement?

Carlos's head began to throb. He couldn't make sense of any of this.

"But I thought you guys didn't believe me about the basement!" Carlos protested.

"We went down there, why wouldn't we believe you?" Logan said.

"No...No! The manager. You guys said I was crazy. And then the manager...h-he told us there was no basement. I told you guys there was but you didn't believe me! And then...te crash. And...the trash...and then...then..."

"CArlos, you're acting really strange." James said.

"I neeveer teelud oo zat zere vas nooo bassumont." The manager said from the front desk.

Carlos looked in bewilderemnt. It was the old lady manager again, instead of the guy. What was happening?

"You! You're supposed to be a guy!" Carlos practically yelled.

There was silence as everyone looked at Carlos, concerned.

Suddenly everything was moving too fast. It felt like Carlos was spinning, spinning out of control. The manager and the basement and the blizzard and the car and the time flashes and the confusion.

He couldn't take it.

He had to get out of this damn hotel.

Carlos jumped from his seat and made a beeline for the front entrance. He grabbed the handle and despite the shouts of protest from behind him, he opened the doors.

The harsh blizzard outside made them fly all the way open and slam against the walls. The wind almost knocked Carlos to the ground but he managed to stay on his feet.

He pushed through the wind outside, ntil he was surrounded by white. The cold seemed to bring him to his senses; suddenly it felt as if he could think clearly again.

Yet he still felt a sense of detachment, almost as if he was dreaming, almost like he was lightheaded.

The wind puled him in ever which direction, and before Carlos knew what was happening there was no ground under his feet. He was plunging towards blackness, into an abyss, into the depths of the canyon beside the mountain road.

And then he was standing back on solid ground, just like that. This random time jumping was going to drive Carlos insane, if he didn't die first. For simplicity purposes (because he was sure he would have to explain the situation if he was to keep his sanity) he made a mental note to refer to it as flashing forward from then on.  
>Coming back to his senses, Carlos looked around at his surroundings, or at least what he could see of them. He was still surrounded by darkness like he had been before, but now he was much warmer.<p>

Wrapped around him was a blanket, underneath which he realized he was only wearing his underwear.  
>From his left Carlos began to hear footsteps. His fear swelled until James's familiar voice came from above them.<br>"James?" Carlos asked.

There was a pause. "What?"

"Just making sure it's you."

"Who else would it be?" James said irritably.

Carlos stopped talking after that. He didn't know why James was irritated but he didn't want to feed the fire.

"That was some stunt out there." the bigger boy said as he walked past Carlos.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb Carlos." James said bluntly. "Man, you sure are lucky. If I had run after you one second later, or lost my balance, or gotten lost in the storm, you wouldn't be here."

"I'm sorry." Carlos mumbled.

"Is that all you've got to say? You're sorry?" James said, then realizing his harshness, added, "Dude, what's up?"

"I don't know what you mean." Carlos lied.

"Yes, you do. You know that if something is wrong you can tell me, right? Or Kendall, or Logan? We're brothers; we shouldn't keep things from each other."

"I just really want to leave this hotel. There's something really wrong..."

"Like what?"

"...It's really complicated."

"Try me."

"I can't."

"So what, do you not trust me?"

"No, I do! It's just I'm not sure I understand myself. I need to collect my thoughts."

"Well, whenever you're ready, I'm here. In the meantime, though, stay in the hotel room, where you're safe. I don't want you leaving until you're feeling better."

"Okay." Carlos agreed. "Hey, why is it so dark in here?"

"You don't remember?" James asked, worriedly. When Carlos was too embarrassed to respond, James answered, "Because the power and water turned off again."

"What?" the confused boy said.

"Yeah, pretty weird, isn't it? It's fine though, Kendall and Logan went down again to fix it; everything should be restored again soon." James made his way in the darkness to Carlos, where he gave him a light shoulder pat. Then he continued past him towards what Carlos assumed to be their room.

"Oh, and thanks, James." he said before he was gone.

With a chuckle, James responded, "No problem, buddy."

And with that, he was gone.

Carlos tried to pull his thoughts together but there was just so much to think about, not to mention the things he just discovered. It was suspicious to him that the electricity and plumbing were out _again_. So far, this day was almost the same as the one two days previous. With the flashing forward, the blackout, the blizzard, and Kendall and Logan in the basement, it almost felt like deja vu.

A pat on his shoulder brought Carlos out of his thoughts.

"Oh, James, I thought you left." he chuckled.

There was no response. James's hand was still clutching his shoulder.

"James?" Carlos asked.

A breath on his neck sent a shiver down his spine.

Heart racing, he slowly turned his head to look behind him.

In the darkness, all he saw was teeth. Bright white teeth, in a wide grin. The hand began to dig into his shoulder, digging into his skin.

"J-James!" Carlos stammered, not very loudly.

The grip loosened, though, and the smile slowly faded into the darkness. A tear slid down his cheek.

Carlos gulped. All of a sudden the darkness seemed way too dark. He wished Logan and Kendall would fix the power already.

A scream from behind made CArlos jump. He recognized it as the scream from two days ago; the scream of the mysterious girl he saw.

He whirled around to find the source of the screaming. When he did though, he found himself in the basement somehow.

In front of him was the large pit from before. After a moment of disorientation, he realized he had flashed forward again. The screaming still rang behind him.

Once again he turned around and chased after the noise, desperate to find some answers.

Almost indentically to before, he found the girl standing there, watching him. She stopped screaming.

FAster this time, Carlos moved forward to touch her. He had to know she was real. He had to know he wasn't crazy.

He got an inch away and time seemed to slow. His finger, almost like it was trying to poke through gelatin, slowly inched towards her face.

She screamed again and Carlos jumped. A crash to his left threw him to the ground. Dazed, he rolled over and looked up.

There it was.

Carlos choked. HIs breath wouldn't come to im. HIs body was shaking uncontrollably. Inside he was screaming, but on the outside he was still choking from fear.

The girl screamed and dodged another blow.

Suddenly Carlos felt like his body was on fire. His skin was burning and his bones felt like they were crumpling inside of him.

The girl tried to fight back but it was useless. Carlos felt hopeless and that everything was going to end. He didn't think he'd live.

But then the lights were on. And Carlos was alive. Just like that.

He inhaled a deep breath, then shakily got up.

He wasn't safe here. No one was.

Blurring out of reality, Carlos migrated towards Kendall and Logan's voices in the main corridor of the basement.

When he got there, they both looked at him quizzically.

"John, why did you come down here again?" Kendall asked.

"Huh?" Carlos asked, but it was too late. He was in his room again. The lights were on. James was pacing around with his hands on his head, seemingly frustrated.

"...I mean do you even listen, Carlos? You're obviously not well, you shouldn't have gone down there! I just can't believe you right now! I was trying to keep you up here for your own good...whatever. I can't do this." he said loudly.

He stormed towards the room's doors, throwing them open and leaving angrily.

What was that about? Carlos wondered.

He sat down on a chair in the living room part of their hotel room and tried to make sense of everything, anything. None of it made sense. ANd now James wasn't here to listen to him.

Twelve vibrations shook Carlos's room, and he realized it to be the grandfather clock striking midnight in the lobby. The gongs seemed to be getting louder each day...

Number four.

Number four.

Four days gone.

Five days left.

Number nine.

Number nine.

Number...

Nine.

**A/N: So, what'd you think? Hm? **

**I'm so happy I have a plan for this. I know exactly what will happen!**

**Please review! **

**Thanks for reading!**

**Sorry again for the long wait :P.**

**Bye!**

**AK.**


	5. Number Five

**Well, I was planning to finish this on Halloween, but it's obvious that's not going to happen...so sorry. I really really want to write and have some sort of je ne sais quoi feeling about creativity and writing, but I just can't as easily anymore. I don't even know.**

**Anywho, at least I got around to doing one more chapter before halloween. It's better than nohting, right?**

**Thank you to all who have reviewed especially, but also to anyone who is even keeping up with this story. I know it may be confusing now, but it will be clear soon!**

**Oh, and just a quick warning, this chapter does have some...ahem...inappropiateness and innuendo. BE WARNED!**

**Haha.**

**Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Number Five<strong>

Carlos heard twelve gongs once again, signaling that it was midnight. Strangely enough, the gongs seemed to be getting louder each night...

Coming to his senses, Carlos made his way to the exit of the room to make peace with James. Nothing really made snese now, but he couldn't aford to piss his friends off.

He grabbed the handle to the door and opened it, expecting an empty hallway.

Instead, though, he found everyone standing out in the well-lit hallway, all facing the wall at the end.

"When did you guys all get here?" Carlos asked.

"What do you mean?" Kendall asked. "You watched us go up here."

"I did?" Carlos said, confused.

"Yeah." James replied, looking at Carlos like he was crazy.

"Remember the loud bang?" Logan explained. "And we all came up here to investigate?"

Carlos thought for a minute, then remembered the activities ending the day prior. "Oh yeah." he remarked. "And we're here because of our car dying, right?"

"Uh-huh." James said slowly.

"And you're not mad at me, James?"

"Why would I be?"

"No reason."

"O...kay?"

"So what was the source of the noise?" Carlos asked, trying to get the attention off of him.

"That." Kendall said, pointing to the wall everyone was looking at.

Carlos turned around and gasped. At the end of the hall, from the ceiling to the floor,were three large gashes in the wall. At first, CArlos couldn't decide what they were, but it slowly began to sink in as he looked at it more. The brown valve to the water pipe in the basement flashed through his mind and he could hear the girl's screams as if they were happening right now.

The gashes formed a claw mark.

And something had to have been monumentally big to have clawas like that.

"Oh...my...God." Carlos mumbled.

"I know, right?" Kendall said.

"Isn't it awesome!?" James exclaimed.

"No, of course not, James." Kendall snapped. "Do you guys think this hotel could be...haunted?"

Logan chuckled, arugably nervously, then answered, "Silly, silly Kendall. There's no such things as ghosts!"

"Yeah, there is!" James said.

"It's impossible. There's probably a very logical explanation for this." Logan inducted.

"Yeah, and that answer is ghosts." James said.

"Ghosts aren't real!"

"Maybe so." Kendall interjected. "But demons are."

Logan rolled his eyes but Carlos jerked around to look at Kendall. "What?"

"You know, demons. They're real." Kendall repeated.

_Number Nine _began to repeat, in John Lennon's voice, over and over in Carlos's head. All of a sudden everything from the past four days flashed through his head. He saw the car exploding and the soft glow of the hotel's name; the little girl and the painting over the mantle in the lobby; the golden tomb and the manager and the unspeakable terror he witnessed in the basement; all of it. It flew through his head in an instant and yet it felt like an eternity, and soon the world before him began to blur considerably. He felt like he was spinning and flying and like he couldn't breathe. His eyes began to roll back in his head and at that moment he felt as if he had a thousand-pound weight on top of him, crushing him. He collapsed to the floor and gasped for breath as everyone gathered around him in a panic. It seemed like everything was wrong, like he would face his death in this hotel, like the fear of the claw marks and the little girl and the unspeakable creature were just to large to handle.

Carlos screamed out in terror, his shrieks bouncing off the halls of the dimming hallway. It felt like his breath was slowly being pulled out of him, like he couldn't go on.

Everything went black. There he saw a face. The face from earlier that night, or day, in the hotel room. The eery white smile, and now deep red eyes, sat and looked at him in the pure darkness.

And then his eyes opened and breath and life refilled his body. His senses flared back to life and he was once again living; he could keep going, he could manage it all.

Cold sweat was dripping down his paled cheeks. Around him were all his friends, staring at him with such concern, that he couldn't stand them. How dare they be so pitiful, how dare they treat him like some monster.

"What?" he snapped.

His anger retreated though, and he immediately wanted to take it back. It was too late, though, as everyone, and especially Kendall, looked hurt by his aggression.

"What's wrong, 'litos?"

"What was that?"

"Are you okay?" They all asked at once.

"I-I'm fine." Carlos stammered. He was shaking.

"That didn't seem like fine to me." James stated.

"J-Just a bit light-headed, that's all." he said, trying to force a grin.

"Are you sure, bud?" Kendall asked. "You know you can tell us if something's the matter, right?"

"Yeah." Carlos lied. Kendall was wrong; if he told them everything, they wouldn't believe a word of it, just like they hadn't about the basement.

The basement.

Carlos then remembered his mission from two days previous: he had to investigate that basement.

And he had to do it while no one was around.

"Oh yeah, I just remembered, I forgot something in the lobby." Carlos lied lamely.

"What?" James prodded.

"Oh, just my...um...coat!" he said.

"Okay then." Logan said, obviously in disbelief. "You want me to come with you?"

"No, I'll be fine, I swear." Carlos said. "Besides, it's been a long day. You all should probably go to bed."

"I don't know how much I'll be able to sleep with that on my mind," James joked, referring to the large claw mark behind him.

Carlos gave a small, nervous, chuckle, then before anyone else could try to stop him, he turned around and headed for the lobby.

Luckily, the male manager was back behind the counter, sorting through various papers that CArlos couldn't think of a reason for him to have; they were the only ones staying at the hotel, after all.

As Carlos walked up to the front desk, the young man looked up and gave a small grin. "Have a nice day?" he asked.

At first, the statement seemed hackneyed, but soon Carlos realized that, at least in this "world", he had just seen the manager not an hour ago.

Unless he knew about the other reality...

Carlos shrugged it off and responded, "Good. You?"

"Sexy."

"What?" Carlos asked.

"I said, 'Same.'" the manager replied.

"Oh, right." Carlos said, forcing a smile. He got a good look at the manager again and the feelings from before washed over him. He had short, brown hair and deep, dark brown eyes, and the slightest bit of unshaved stubble. Awed, fascinated, lured, Carlos felt, just looking at this man.

"So can I help you with something?" the manager asked.

"Huh?" Carlos said, snapping out of his daze. His voice seemed so smooth and warm, like thick chocolate syrup slowly being drizzled into his ears. "Yeah, actually, I was just wondering about the basement."

"Well, it's here somewhere." the manager laughed. Carlos laughed too.

"Really?" he mumbled.

"Certainly is."

Carlos started to walk around the desk. "So, you been working here long?" he asked flirtatiously.

"For a pretty _long _time now, yes." the manager answered with a small smile.

"Is it hard? Your job, I mean?"

"It can get pretty _hard _sometimes, sure, but I love it, so it's definitely worth it."

By now Carlos was behind the desk. "Is it a lot of work?"

"It's a pretty _big load_, sure, but I manage."

"Well you are certainly good at your job." Carlos murmured, patting the taller man's shoulder.

"Thank you." the manager said, his smile growing. "Oh, hey, look down." he said.

Carlos looked down and blushed as he saw what the man had been talking about. When had that happened? Looking back up, he was about to say something, when he couldn't help it anymore. He leaned up and grabbed the amn's head, forcefully kissing him. Fire spread throughout his body and he couldn't take it longer.

Somehwere in the back of his head, he was screaming that he wasn't like this, that he liked girls.

But right there, and right then, in that moment, he couldn't care less.

* * *

><p>A breeze blew past Carlos, his eyes on the ceiling. To his left he could hear the faint rumble of snoring, and from somewhere in the room there was a faint hum, probably from a light.<p>

He felt naked. Probably because he was, or at least he nearly was. But more than just on the surface, he felt naked on the inside too. Exposed, really.

So was he a man now? Had he finally lost, or shed, his boyhood?

He didn't want to think of that. He couldn't.

Gathering all of his strength and feeling like he had run a marathon, he slowly stood. He ingored the pain; panting, he pulled on his clothes.

He walked to the door to the small bedroom, but he didn't open it, not at first. For a moment he stared at his reflection in the golden door handle, shocked at what he saw. His brown hair was ruffled and his cheeks were bright red. His eyes were darker, though. They had bags under them.

Finally, he grabbed the freezinghandle and sung open the door, happy to escape the evil little room.

Quietly, he shut the door and breathed a sigh of half relief that he was in the hall. He couldn't forget the thing she had just done, but for now he could run away from them.

Carlos sauntered towards the lobby, ready to go to bed for the first time in what seemed like forever. On his way. though, as he looked at the walls, the large industrial door of the basement flashed through his mind. He then realized that this was where the basement door had been.

He approached the wall and ran his hand over the smoothly-painted surface. If he hadn't seen this spot before, it would have seemed like just an ordinaary wall.

But beneath it Carlos could feel cold. Only slightly, yet still he could feel something...sinister beneath the surface.

With a loosely bundled fist, he gave on eshort knock on the wall, and from behind he could hear a metallic ring.

Frowning, Carlos raised his hand to knock again.

* * *

><p>"Hey Carlos, want some cookies?"<p>

"Heck yeah, man!" Carlos said. He raced out to the kitchen of Kendall's house, where his voice was coming from. The smell of cookies wafted into his noice and made his mouth salivate.

"They smell freaking delicious, dude." Carlos said as he walked into the kitchen. Once inside, though he found no one. In fact, the lighs were off, and he could no longer smell cookies.

"Kendall?" he asked. No one responded.

"Hey Carlitos, go see if your daddy's home yet!" his mother said.

Carlos turned around, and there she was, smiling. He was now in his living room, and much shorter. His mom stood there with a frozen smile.

"Okay mommy!" Carlos giggled, shocked bye his little voice.

He ran to the window, almost as if he were wathing himself rather than actually performing the action. Once he got to the window, he looked out, but didn't see a single car.

"Nope." he pouted. The streetlight flickered on. Suddenly he was looking down, as if he moved up a floor without realizin.

Sitting down by the streetlamp was a person, or at least a shadow. Upon further inspection, he saw that it was a boy. His heaad stayed down, but Carlos could definitely tell it was a boy now. He just sat, staring at his lap. Small weeping noises filled the air slowly, reverberating around Carlos. Slowly they grew louder until all he could hear were the high-pitched screams of the little boy. The soft illumination of the streetlamp slowly faded out, as did the screams. Before darkness consumed him, the boy looked up and smiled at Carlos.

"Mommy?" Carlos asked.

"Yes, honey?" her voice asked, somewhere off in the distance.

"What's happening?" he said, scared.

"You've been bad."

"Wha'd'you mean, mommy?"

"You've been bad."

"Mommy!" Carlos whined, tears forming in his eyes.

"You've been bad."

Carlos was slowly enveloped by the earth.

* * *

><p>As he awakened, Carlos could still hear his mom's twisted voice ringing through his head. He shuddered.<p>

He shifted to his side, but his head screamed out in pain as he adjusted his pillow. He grimaced and hesitatnly felt the area that was burning, only to cause himself more pain. It felt like he had been attacked by a crowbar. What had happened to him?

The last thing Carlos remembered was seeing a claw mark on the wall.

With a grunt of pain, he slowly rolled over in his bed. After resting for a moment to wait for the pain to stop, he wloly pushed himslef up and out of the bed. Once up, staggered out into the hall of the creepy hotel room into the entrance.

Once there, however he saw that the door was open. "James?" he asked.

There was no response.

Limping over to the door, Carlos pered out into the hallway; there wasn't anyone there.

At least that he could see; it almost felt like he was being watched...

Quickly Carlos shut the door, his heart racing. Suddenly overwhelmed, he made his way over to a chair in the room and slowly lowered himself. A clock on the wall read three o' clock.

Carlos closed his eyes to try and calm his nerves, and they did start to ease. Once he felt normal again, he opened his eyes.

The door to the room was open again.

Gulping, Carlos once again called James's name out, and once again there was no response. Deciding he couldn't be alone right now, Carlos went into the hallway, closed the door, and walked as quickly as he couldto the lobby. His heart thumped louder and louder, the tension growing, until finally he was in the soft light of the lobby.

Everyone looked up as he walked down the stairs, trying to hide his limp.

"Look who's finally up!" Gustavo exclaimed.

"We were worried for a minute there you were dead." Logan chuckled.

"Nope," Carlos said. "Just tired. This has all been a very stressful experience. Any word on how we're getting out of this place?"

"Kelly's looking into it right now." Kendall said, pointing towards Kelly, who was pacing around the other side of the room with her cell phone.

"Good." Carlos said. He sat down. "Hey, have any of you guys been to my room recently?"

Everyone shook their heads no. Carlos's heart thumped in his head.

"Why?" Logan asked.

"No reason." Carlos said hastily.

"Uh Carlos, can I talk to you for a minute?" Kendall asked.

Gulping, Carlos nodded his head. What could he possibly want to talk about?"

Kendall lead him back upstairs, Carlos growing nervous again. Once in the hallway there, he began, "So, did you get your jacket in the lobby last night?"

Carlos thought back, not sure what Kendall was talking about. "Oh, yeah." he lied.

"Good, good." Kendall said. "Did anything...uh...interesting happen there?"

Carlos thought back as hard as he could, but he just couldn't remember. "I don't think so...why?"

"No reason. Just know that if there's anything you need to tell me, buddy, I'm here for you. And I won't turn my back on you either; I'll always support you."

"Um, okay...?" Carlos mumbled. He looked down, trying to think about what had happened before. They both stopped, having reached the end of the hall.

Carlos looked up and gasped. On the wall in front of them, there was a large, dripping, red, m=number nine. Whether it was paint or...something else, Carlos didn't want to know.

The pain in his head began to sharpen, and soon he swore it felt like his head was on fire

The walls screamed; the nine screamed; his head screamed; the lights screamed; his vision blurred.

Number Five.

Number Five.

Five.

Four days left.

Four days.

Number Nine.

Number Nine.

NINE.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Thank you for reading! Hopefully this was scary, and not horrible, but I can't know unless you review! Please do! What do you think is going on? All will be revealed soon, kids.**

**Bwahaha.**

**Sorry again for not finishing by Halloween...This story is halfway over though, so it should be finished by December.**

**If only...**

**Happy Halloween by the way! Be safe ;).**

**Twelve more words...I mean, um, corndogs. Yeah. Corndogs corndogs corndogs corndogs.**

**Bye!**

**AK.**


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